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"The simple way to a leaner, stronger, greener lifestyle. "The greatest thing we can do in life is to be a beacon for positive change. Show how amazing we can be!"." - Jon Hinds, Founder Monkey Bar Gym

The time was August 2000, I had just won a Gold Medal in two of
the biggest Brazilian Jiu-jitsu (BJJ) tournaments in the world and
opened my first Monkey Bar Gymnasium (MBG); needless to say
I was feeling pretty darn good! Move forward three years and
things changed dramatically. Although my gym was doing great, I
could barely train BJJ anymore or workout, why......? Arthritis in
my hands and feet, plus severe knee and back pain! Never
before had I had a problem and why should i? I ate the perfect
athlete diet….oatmeal, raw nuts, whey protein and a banana for
breakfast; whey protein bar for a snack; chicken breast sandwich
on whole wheat bun with veggies for lunch; smoothie with whey
protein for an after workout recovery drink and salmon, broccoli
and potato for dinner….perfect!! At least that’s what I thought!!
You see right after opening my gym, I began to experience crippling
hand and back pain, the type that cuts any activities down to zero.
Because I couldn’t workout, I had feelings of depression, fatigue
and then started to gain fat. After that the pain became unbearable, I
went to a doctor. After four second opinions, I realized they were
all going to tell me the same thing, I had arthritis. I couldn’t
accept this answer but I didn’t know what to do and I didn’t know
how to heal myself. One day, out of the blue a guy named John
Allen Mollenhauer called me to talk about some of my inventions
and ended up asking me about my health. Reluctantly I told him
the pain I’d been experiencing and he said “that’s reversible you
know”. So 30 minutes later John explained the basis of plant
based nutrition and told me that I had to read a book called “The
China Study” the biggest nutrition study done comparing animal
based foods and plant based foods and their affects on the body.
This book hadn’t even been printed yet, so he sent me a rough
draft copy of it and underlined the key points as to why I had this
pain and how then I could change it. John also told me not to eat
animal products for thirty days and that my hand pain would be
almost gone. Thirty days later it was and sixty days later it was
completely gone!!

Since that time, I have made it my duty to learn and apply all that
I can when it comes to plant based nutrition so that I can do for
others what John did for me. This life transformation happened in
2003 and I’ve been going strong ever since. Soon after beginning
and learning as much as possibly could I met the author of “The
China Study”, T. Colin Campbell and with his knowledge I began
to apply the plant based lifestyle to my Monkey Bar Gymnasiums
with amazing results.

That is my story, literally going from pain to health in a matter of 30
days....Colin Campbell and John Allen changed my life! This decision
to go plant based was and was not an easy one though. NOT EASY because
i was massively worried i'd lose all my hard gained muscle....WRONG
i'm currently the same exact lean body mass and weight i was in 2003
when i moved to plant based. EASY because i've never wanted to harm
any animals and feeling like i had to in order to be strong really to put
it honestly was not cool in my gut. And when i found i i could be
just as strong, lean and athletic as i've ever been without killing animals,
man i was all over that!!!:) Plus helping the planet was another big one
and that is another big perk too of not feeding that factory farming industry.SO MY REASONS FOR BEING PLANT STRONG:

Better health, just as strong, lean and athletic

No killing animals

Helping Global Cooling

3 simple reason we can all support!!!
Support my friends!:)
After this i'm going to put in recipes to help you change your life, animals
and the planet!!!
PEACE!!
Jon

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Comments

Hi, John. Great post! Question: Should I decide to go plant based, where could I get informed on nutrition and meal plans in order to not miss on any nutrients and stay completely healthy? Thanks in advance!

was tasty:) hey igor - getting informed on eating plant strong today is very easy.One my blog:) haha eat as i do...strong plants and you WILL get stronger and leaner...feel great! besides me there's tons of great books, dvds, websites...ready:) thrive by brendan brazier (awesome book!), china study (got to read it and learn), meat is for pussies (by john joseph, love this book), mike mahler (smart, strong vegan...basically a great source of knowledge on getting strong without killing animals or ourselves with poor foods:), engine 2 diet is also great! now do it my friend!!

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